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A parallel and quantitative cell migration assay using a novel multi-well-based device

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Abstract

Cell migration assays for different chemical environments are important for both scientists and clinicians searching for new therapeutics. In this study, we developed a multi-well-based microfluidic chip that has multiple units for different conditions. In each unit, cells can be patterned and then released to observe their migration. Automatic image analysis and model-based data processing were developed to describe the integrated cell migration assay precisely and quickly. As a demonstration, the migration behaviors of two types of cells in eight chemical conditions were studied. The results showed that supplementation with transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β) significantly promoted the migration of MCF-7 and MCF-10 A cells compared to several growth factors, such as Epidermal Growth Factor(EGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF), as well as a control sample. Cells can migrate particularly fast with two or more mixed supplementary factors, such as TGF-β + bFGF + EGF, which indicated a synergy effect. Thus, this chip could be used to quantitatively observe cancer cell migration and demonstrated great potential for use in quantitative migration studies and chemical screening.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Feng Liu for helpful discussions. This work was partially supported by the NSF of China (11174012, 11674010, 11434001) and the National Grand Instrument Program of China (2012YQ030142).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The State Key Laboratory for Artificial Microstructures and Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Qianghua Quan, Qi Ouyang & Chunxiong Luo

  2. State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Qianghua Quan, Xudong Wang, Yugang Wang & Gen Yang

  3. Center for Quantitative Biology, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Shuwen Zhang, Qi Ouyang & Chunxiong Luo

  4. Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Qi Ouyang

Authors
  1. Qianghua Quan
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  2. Shuwen Zhang
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  3. Xudong Wang
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  4. Qi Ouyang
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  5. Yugang Wang
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  6. Gen Yang
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  7. Chunxiong Luo
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Correspondence to Gen Yang or Chunxiong Luo.

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Quan, Q., Zhang, S., Wang, X. et al. A parallel and quantitative cell migration assay using a novel multi-well-based device. Biomed Microdevices 18, 99 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-016-0122-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-016-0122-7

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